Minister tells Clicks to remove TRESemme from its shelves
Minister for Small Business Development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has called on Clicks to remove TRESemme products from the shelves as “an expression of their disassociation with suppliers who promote racist and insensitive marketing".
Ntshavheni further called on Clicks to list more African hair products made by SMMEs on its shelves.
“If Clicks management is serious about being ‘a proudly South African corporate citizen’ and want to make amends for its ‘error’, it must be reflected by steps to place more hair products made by South African SMMEs for African hair on its shelves," she says.
Ntshavheni also described the health and beauty retailer's apology as meaningless.
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“Clicks misses the point that the offence is not only about the images that are insensitive but the fact that it represents the views of TRESemme that are racists and reflects the continued undermining of the beauty of African women and the violence they suffer when they are deemed not meeting certain superficial standards.
“Therefore to pull down the advert and issue a public apology cannot cut it,” adds Ntshavheni.
Clicks has come under fire in the past few days for an advert on its website which labelled black peoples’ hair as “dull and dry”, while white peoples’ hair was described as “normal”.
The advert prompted the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to protest at Clicks stores across the country and demand the shutdown of all the retailer’s outlets until Friday.
